Thursday, August 30, 2012

I don't know about you, but I am ready for Fall!! Apples, pumpkins, acorns, Indian corn, colorful leaves, crispy mornings; Yes, summer has been long enough for me. If you look hard enough in our neighborhood, you will see signs that it is coming!

Last weekend my sister and I went to visit our Grandma. Driving six hours straight north certainly makes a difference in weather! You can see quite a few more signs fall is on it's way. One of them, apples are ready to pick!

Do you see all those apples ready for picking?

I don't know about you, but I think apple trees are so pretty. This one has been around a long time and it shows. Poor thing! It is a bit lopsided.

I love the thick glossy leaves and the contrast of ripening apples.

Of course, apples mean Pie!! We couldn't resist whipping one up!

More Cinnamon?

Yum!

We always forget to take a picture of the finished product, in too big of a hurry to sample it, I guess!

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

The Farmer's Wife was published between 1893 and 1939. It covered a wide range of topics including; cooking, sewing, caring for animals, feeding the threshing crews, fashion, preserving, housekeeping, childcare.....

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Have you ever dreamed of getting your milk delivered? I certainly have! It has always conjured up a fresh picture of early morning, the sun and birds just beginning to get up and a horse slowly pulling the milk wagon down the road. All you can hear are the birds singing and the gentle click, click of the milk bottles....and maybe the milkman whistling. This must of been a scene from a movie!

At the beginning of the summer we started a quest for a good -reasonably priced-organic whole milk. One of the brands we tried was Oberweis. The milk comes in glass half gallon bottles and written on the side is "Delivered direct to your door!" Well, we had to look into it! After comparing prices and researching it a bit more, we decided to give it a try! Even though having milk delivered sounds old-fashioned, today it is an up-todate process. You log into your account, check what you want delivered that week and check out!

There is actually a wide range of items that are available. From milk, butter and cheese to bread, pizza and sausage. We have been mainly getting eggs and milk. These are the most reasonable priced items and groceries we eat everyday.

Our cute little "milk box" provided by Oberwies to keep our dairy fresh! It is really just a cooler with cows on the front. Once a week we have to remember to put the box out on the front porch and make sure the dog sleeps up stairs. She doesn't like anyone on her front porch at 2am! Oh yes, our milk is delivered in the wee small hours. We ordered ice cream once and didn't want to invest in a special freezer bag, so just had the milkman knock on the door, not realizing he came that early!

Our peaceful porch on a busy corner.

I always think of this scene from "Send Me No Flowers" when I think of milkmen....

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Don't you love old Photos for inspiration? I love looking at the clothing, the faces, the backgrounds and of course the Aprons! The 1900s are a little boring in apron fashion, mostly plain styled waist aprons. They are also very hard to find photos of! The home camera was not widely used at this point, so if a photograph was going to be taken everyone wanted to look their best!! Here are a few I found on Etsy.

Another little treasure I found was a letter. So cute! A glimpse into the past. "I am sending you the pattern in another envelope. I hope you like the blouse pattern. I'd not got the skirt pattern smaller than 28, so went and cut Dorthy Ann's skirt pattern off for you since it is only one pattern....... Anyways saved 25 cents for not being able to get the size.... We got home okay and for sure was cold. Thanks for the nice time we had....... so bye bye, Love Mom"
Unfortunatly, the skirt pattern was not with the letter, so I don't know which pattern she was talking about. That would have been neat!

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Did you know in the 1930s census 775,140 women were listed as stenographers? That made it the third largest occupation for women. First was domestic service, second teachers. By the 1940 the census shows the number was up to 1,000,580 women, with another 68,300 looking for positions as stenographers. For that decade, first place occupation was still domestic service, second manufacturing and stenographers third again. That is an awful lot of women! But in that era there was only a small percent of occupations that were considered"proper" for women.

This picture I found in a antique shop years ago. I just love all the faces! It is so fun to imagine what it would be like to work in a stenographers pool in the 1930s. My sister and I use to make up stories about them. Do you see Dorthy peeking out from behind everyone? And Miss Glamour on the left in the first row, is she on her way to Hollywood? And doesn't the lady just behind the first row look like she could be a Scottish Nanny? So many different styles of hair and dress too!

Thursday, August 9, 2012

I ran across an article from The University of Missouri on a 1940s apron!! From their project Cotton in Our Lives. Very nicely written! To see more pictures and read the entire article click on the link above.

"The maker was an accomplished seamstress, as evident by the quality of the stitching and the small details that indicate experience. There was obvious pride taken in creating such a simple, yet lovely symbol of the domesticity, meant to be seen on special occasions by loved ones and friends." excerpt from 1940s Apron by Alli Kuykendall-University of Missouri

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

I don't usually like to share my sewing projects until they are finished. One never knows what might happen, it might just take a long time, it might not turn out like you planned and you wouldn't be caught dead in it, it might need a bit of something else(what else you are not sure?), so you look at for few weeks until comes to you. See there are a lot of things! But I am so excited about this one that I had to share! It has been in the making for a long time! Ask the family, I have been talking about this for a year! I just couldn't find the perfect fabric. I knew I wanted quilted, but flannel or not flannel? And I almost fainted when I saw the price of pre-quilted fabric!!

So here is what I am making! A 1960s quilted flannel robe. Not sure why I am making it in the hottest part of summer! Wishful thinking?! I am using the pattern on the left, but have decided to make it look more like the pattern on the right with contrasting binding and collar.

I finally found the perfect fabric! On sale too! The minute I saw it, I knew it was going to be perfect for my robe. It has that just right retro-kitchy feel to it, besides being Pink and roses!

I cut the pattern out of the top fabric(roses) then layered the batting and bottom fabric(solid pink), pinned it in place and cut it into sections. I didn't want to cut both layers out because of stretching and slipping of the fabric while quilting. I am about half way done quilting the pieces. I will certainly let you know when it is complete. Hopefully before it gets cold!